I Was Targeted by Street Gangs

How a death threat changed my life

It was a wonderful spring day when I received the call from Special Agent Wesley. I answered the phone, thinking he had a simple question, but what he told me was shocking and scary.

“Robert, they thought I was you. They said they were going to kill me.”

Wesley was doing interviews in the Napa County Jail when a gang member mistook him for me and said they were going to kill him. Having a gang member saying this was unnerving for Wesley. He was a new Agent and had been working with me for about two weeks. Wesley told the gang member that he was not the one they wanted and told him my name.

Wesley was already concerned about being working a gang assignment. The sudden violence they were capable of was something he did not like. It was the last straw for him, and he never worked with me again.

Facing a death threat on my own

When the first death threat came out, I worked on a Task Force with the Napa Police Department’s Gang Unit for about three years. We were targeting transnational gang members, and my authority to enforce Immigration Law was a game-changer. Before my assisting, the gang members operated with impunity, dealing drugs and weapons. The gang would also terrorize the local youth and Hispanic community. Because I was able to arrest the gang members for just being there, and I arrested hundreds, the gang leaders were angry and authorized the green-light on me.

When I found out about the death threat, I immediately notified my Supervisor. Knowing what the proper response should have been, I was surprised by what the answer was. I figured I would be done with gang work, be reassigned, or even moved to a different part of the country. There was no response from my agency, no investigation to find out how valid the threat was. I was discouraged by the lack of response, how much they did not care about their Agents. I realized, for the first time, that I was on my own. No one would protect me except me.

I took the response to the death threat into my own hands. Instead of backing off, I went after the gang even harder. I wanted to make their existence a pure hell of worry and stress. I wanted them to have to look over their shoulder and wonder when I would be there. The same thing they did to me.

The unimaginable effect on my family

When the threat first came out, I did not tell my family. I did not want them to worry about me, but I also did not want my wife to freak out. When I finally told her, I played it down as much as possible. She was a little worried, but I assured her that it was not a real threat. It was one of the few times during the marriage that I lied to her.

After being in the military in Europe during the first Gulf War, and the terrorist threats, It became routine to pay attention to my surroundings. I was always checking if someone was following and who was around me. This was different, though, and I found myself always been on alert. When we would go to the store, go out for dinner, or a nice drive, I always watched. I did not know when the gang member would come out of nowhere with a gun. At the time, I also was not sure if they would come after my family.

I found myself watching the neighborhood more closely. Since I lived in the same town I was working, I knew the gang could follow me home. I also started teaching my children emergency plans, especially when we were out in public. Luckily we only had to act on the emergency plan once while we are the mall in Fairfield. I was so proud of them, but at the same time, I was sad. I was not a normal dad, and my family had to pay the price.

My honor was my curse

Several years later, while working with the Fairfield Police Department investigating a shooting, I ran across a Napa gang member. I had met him before when I arrested his older brother and sent him to prison. At that time, he was only ten or eleven years old. I remember talking to him then, and how he told me he did not want to be like his older brother.

I asked him why he became a gang member. He said to me that it was in his family and he had no choice. Then I asked him, “is the green light still good?” He responded, “Yeah, they still wanna kill you.” My next question to him was, “Why haven’t they tried?” His response, “Because the ones that will do it are still in prison or deported.”

I told him, “Let them know I am working here in Fairfield now. They can come and find me.” He looked at me, laughed, and said, “alright.”

At the time, and through the years working, I took this as a badge of honor. I had done my job so effectively that the gangs wanted me dead. I received two, that I know of, additional threats from the gangs in the ensuing years.

Death threats piling up

The second threat was from a gang in Fairfield, California. They put me on what they called the ‘bench list.’ That gang also would do surveillance looking for me when I was in town. They had to keep tabs on where I was and what I was doing. I was not worried about this threat at all. I was not the only person on the list and was not specific as to what the gang wanted to do to those on it, so and laughed it off.

The third death threat came out of the North Highlands area of Sacramento in May of 2013. This is the one that worried me the most. That gang, Sur High Gangsters Trece, was larger and more violent. During a probation search of one the gang leaders, he told me that they were looking for me. He also said that they would find me without my friends and Murk me because I had disrespected one of their dead homies, which I did. In street slang Murk means murder. The reason this one concerned me more was due to the direct nature of it. A gang leader told me directly and was for a specific reason, that I had disrespected the gang.

Resigned to my personal prison

I had grown used to living with the threats, even though it was tiring. I also had grown used to my agency not doing anything about the threats. The last one caused my agency to open a case, but nothing was done. Not one interview, nothing. Had my agency completed a proper investigation, the real extent of the threat might have been realized and would have saved me from being shot six months later.

It has been several years since I have worked with gangs. There are still many places I will not go to and always look over my shoulder. My new wife is very aware of the threats and how serious they are. When we are out, we often see people I have arrested or their families. My wife notices the way they look at me and quite often is the one that points them out. We are cautious and always aware of our surroundings.

During my career, I would brag about the threats and even taunt the gang members because of them. But living with that constant threat has been exhausting. I know that one day they will forget, and I will live a relaxed life. I do not know when that will be or how long it will take.

I look forward to that day. Until then, I will remain vigilant, always watching and wondering if and when it will come.